A challenging reassessment of the concepts and institutions of modern liberal democracy in the light of postmodern theory and the politics of difference.

This collection of essays in political sociology and public policy contests some of the fundamental features of the contemporary State as it is manifested in Australia. It explores themes such as the development of the complex interventionist State, characterised by the proliferation of its activities to encompass virtually every feature of its subjects' daily lives and functioning as a central site of struggle over the distribution of social, economic, political and cultural resources. It...

On Jean Améry provides a comprehensive discussion of one of the most challenging and complex post-Holocaust thinkers, Jean Améry (1912-1978), a Jewish-Austrian-Belgian essayist, journalist and literary author. In the English-speaking world Améry is known for his poignant publication, At the Mind's Limits, a narrative of exile, dispossession, torture, and Auschwitz. In recent years, there has been a renewed interest in Améry's writings on victimization and resentment, partly attributable to...

The Aporia of Rights is an exploration of the perplexities of human rights, and their inevitable and important intersection with the idea of citizenship. Written by political theorists and philosophers, essays canvass the complexities involved in any consideration of rights at this time. Yeatman and Birmingham show through this collection of works a space fora vital engagement with the politics of human rights.

This collection presents a critical dialogue on managerialist forms of government between philosophy, political thought, organisational and management theory. The volume brings together essays that are concerned with technologies of government that are articulated as different iterations of managerialism.The hallmark of managerialist discourse is value, considered as a quantifiable abstraction, where the intention is to always ‘add value’. The central question addressed here by a t...

Activists - protecting rainforests, demanding increased childcare, developing local community housing, campaigning for AIDS funding or protecting consumers - are as much part of the political landscape as the media, parliament, peak industry groups, political parties or trade unions. This collection explores the idea of policy activism and its relationship to the processes that not only set but implement and deliver the policy agenda.Policy activists operate both inside and outside...